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There was a lot of sadness in Eva Georgia “Georgie” Baxter Payne’s 47 years. Her mother died when she was 4.[1] Georgie died 5 years after her husband when she was 47 leaving behind 8 children, the youngest who was 8.

And she had a really inconvenient birthday. The 1880 census recorded everyone who was living in the household on June 1st, 1880. And Georgie was born on June 10th, 1880.[2] Oh, the 1880 census her family was on was enumerated on June 17th, 1880; but this enumerator followed the rules.[3]

Finding her parents was a bit of a challenge. Georgie’s death certificate said her mother was Mary Alexander and her father was S. R. Baxter. The informant was my grandmother, Georgie’s daughter, Jennie E Payne.[4]

There are no S.R. Baxter’s that I could find in North Carolina. I looked. And I looked. And I looked.

I looked for Georgie’s marriage certificate James. James and Georgie were married October 18th, 1902. North Carolina marriage certificates have parents’ names. I found the film, I scrolled through it. Bingo! You know that feeling when you find the obvious document that will have your answer. The excitement! The answer!

Georgie’s parents are listed as unknown and unknown, and they both were dead. And you know that feeling too, don’t you?

Time to use the FAN method! I recorded the information that was on the marriage certificate including those who signed. B. R. Payseur, and name I still can’t read, and something like Reasley Carrol.

I went back to the North Carolina death certificates on Ancestry.com and search for people who had a father S.R. Baxter or a mother Mary Alexander.

And I found Sara Baxter, whose mother was Mary Baxter and her father Peter Baxter. And her husband? Boyce R. Payseur.[5] Now we know that B. R. Payseur was a witness to James and Georgie’s wedding. I felt like I was on to something. OK, not solid proof. But it sure felt like a substantial lead. And it was. Boyce is listed as a guardian for Georgie’s children.[6] James and Georgie’s son was named Jack Boyce Payne. [7]

But I needed more. I hunted down Peter Franklin Baxter’s probate files, who is listed as Sarah’s father on her death certificate and her father in 1880.[8] He died October 16th, 1897, five years before Georgie and James were married.[9] When his will is recorded it lists a Sally Payseur, wife of Boyce and a Georgie Baxter.[10] But that still isn’t enough. What if there is another Georgie Baxter that has a sister named Sally/Sarah?

So I searched for the final settlement for Peter’s will. And lo and behold, Georgie, is now Georgie Payne and her husband is JR Payne.[11]

She tried to hide her parents, but with a little FAN work I found her. Every piece of data on every may be significant.

When I first starting looking at what knew about my great grandmother Sudie Sarah Hamrick Turner, I thought I didn’t know much about her. But once I started digging into her life and the life of her family I found something different. She appears to have been part of a creative and ambitious group.

Sarah “Sudie” Hamrick was born September 9th, 1891 in North Carolina, daughter of James M Hamrick and Delia P Hopper.[1] She died October 1st, 1978 at the age of 87 in North Carolina and is buried next to her husband James Austin Turner in Sharon Memorial Park in Charlotte, North Carolina.[2]

If her tombstone is right, she was 15 when she married James, age 21, July 5th, 1907 in Henrietta, Rutherford, North Carolina; the marriage register says she was 20.[3] They were married for 52 years until James’ death on January 22nd, 1959.[4] She never remarried.

Sudie, which is the name I most often see her called, and James moved around a lot. And James appeared to try his hand at many different businesses, all of them family owned.

By1910 they were living in Charlotte and James and his brother Ira who was living with the family were both mattress retail merchants working on their own accord, [6]

In 1918 we find James and Ira in Rutherford;[7] in 1920 James was working as a “G Merchant” possibly a grocery merchant, again, working on his own accord,[8]

Back in Charlotte by 1925 the City Directory leaves us with no clue as to what they were doing,[9]

Then on to Statesville by 1930 where he appears to have owned an undertaking parlor, [10]

James was a manager at Penders Store in Charlotte in 1933,[11] by 1941, still in Charlotte, James’ was a salesman for the Turner Trading Company and is brother Ira was a bookkeeper for Turner Trading Company as well.[12]

The family was in Asheville in 1942 and James was working at Turner Body Works, which was owned by Lonnie W Turner, relationship unknown, and finally settled down in Charlotte. In 1943 still in Asheville, James owned a welding school, his son Howard was a manager there and his daughter-in-law Jennie worked in the office. Howard was also a radio broadcaster at WISE,

James and Sudie were back in Charlotte by 1951. James owned Turners and his brother Ira was working in real estate.[13]

So how did Sudie keep up as her husband bounced from location to location, job to job? I’m guessing she participated in these ventures while she was raising her six children. And what an interesting group of children they were.

Ruth Louise (1908-1990) who changed her name to Gary Delisser and became an artist painting a portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt among others. She married Donald Dick Delisser in New York on May 9th 1941 and they hobnobbed with Hollywood celebrities and lived quite an interesting life.

James Austin (1910-1998) who married Annie Lineriux Boone on November 12th 1933. He was successful business man and left behind a foundation.

Mary Sue (1912-1967) who worked as a copy editor before marrying William Franklin Gaines who was a newspaper editor in Greenville, South Carolina.

William (1917-1917) who was born in Henrietta, NC and died 6 days later.

Howard Arthur (1919-1992) who married multiple times and worked as radio broadcaster in the 1940’s and went on to be part owner in National Welders Supply Company.[15]

Michael Conrad (1926-1994) who served in World War II and who according to my uncle was an actor and was the “fun” uncle.[16]

So I wonder what kind of woman Sudie was. Long suffering, putting up with constant moves and changes? Or was she encouraging? More of a muse to her families various activities as they pursued their dreams? I think given the creativity and success of her children and her husband she was more of a muse. And no doubt some of her accomplishments are still hidden in records I have not discovered.

I’ve always had trouble with the conflicting evidence around the birth of her youngest brother Otto.

Otto Baxter Payne is believed to be the youngest child of James Robert Payne and Eva Georgia Baxter. Otto’s gravestone states that he was born December 16, 19231. James’ death certificate states that he died on January 23, 19232. If these two dates are correct, it is highly unlikely that James is Otto’s father. If Otto was born in 1922 it would be possible for James to be his father.

Now I obviously could order the birth certificate, and assuming it was correct know the answer. But basic methodology says you need two sources from separate informants. AND I could use some practice in conflicting evidence. So I’ll begin my search using just online evidence.

From the death records, we already have conflicting evidence. 3 records (one is an index) state that he was born in 1923 and 1 states that he was born in 1922. None of these are definitive in proving what year he was born. Although I do think they demonstrate the conflict pretty well.

Tomorrow, we will analyze the birth records that are available online.

I am a perpetual student because the world is a limitless place. — Elissa Scalise Powell

I had the honor of being in Elissa’s class when I was a student in the Boston University Online Certificate program. She was inspiring then, and in a recent post on APG mailing list, she delivered the above gem. (I couldn’t find this attributed to anyone else, so I assume it is hers.) It was part of a great discussion about education.

When I was a computer science student at the University of Arkansas working on my bachelor’s degree, I remember sitting in an architecture class and thinking, there is absolutely no way I am ever going to know all there is to know about this. It inspired me to go get a Master’s Degree at Purdue.

I had that moment in my BU class where the light went on and I knew I would have to pick and choose what I became truly knowledgeable about in Genealogy.

For me, I want to know all I can about Southern Genealogy, specifically Virginia, and the Carolina’s and the Civil War. That is where my family’s history lies.

Oh, and sourcing!

Some days I feel like I am making progress and some days I am overwhelmed.

But I keep reading and practicing. Because the world is indeed a limitless place.

My Uncle Paul loved Andy Griffith, especially the Andy Griffith show. He says all of life lessons could be learned from the show. It seemed to be a simpler time back then didn’t it? When we look back, life made more sense, people were more pleasant, life was easier. At least in our memories.

My sister and I sitting with my Uncle Paul

My sister was very young in this picture, she is sitting Uncle Paul’s lap. I’m guessing this was taken sometime in 1965, probably in South Carolina where we lived or North Carolina where Paul lived.

This one is for you Paul. And Andy. And all that lives only in our memories.

I was asked a couple of days ago, “Why are city directories interesting?” It is a fair question. You find them, you attach them to your online tree or software program, and then you have a list of them. A list of them? Dreadfully boring .

Listing of records for Howard Turner, 1919 – 1992

This is not interesting. It doesn’t tell me anything about the man and his life.

In 1938 and 1939, Howard, 18, was living with his parents, James Austin TURNER and Sudie Sarah HAMRICK TURNER, at 316 E Morehead, Charlotte, NC. Howard’s brother James Austin Jr., was living around the corner with his wife Annie Lineriux BOONE TURNER; both James Sr. and Jr. were salesman. Ira and Pearl TURNER, Howard’s aunt and uncle lived not far from them at 1826 E 4th; Ira owns Turner Trading Company.

In 1938, Howard is a student and in 1939 we see that Howard begins his career as a Radio Announcer.1

He disappears from the City Directories in until 1943, where he is living with Jennie in Asheville, North Carolina. Howard is a Radio Announcer for WISE Broadcasting as well as the manager of a Welding Engineering School where both his father, James, and his wife, Jennie, are working. 3 Their first child, a daughter is born in 1943.4

From 1944 to 1950, Howard and Jennie are back in Charlotte, and Howard is working for WBT, a major radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are living at 522 Hawthorne Lane in an apartment. Their second child, a son is born in 1944.5

In 1951, it appears the couple has separated. Howard is living with Lois Turner at 323 E Blvd in Charlotte and is now working for Turner’s. Jennie is living at 523 Hawthorne Lane and is working as a nurse at the Presbyterian Hospital.6

Except for the marriage and births, all the detail comes from the City Directories. It’s all about the details and making stories a little less forgotten.

I never knew my maternal grandfather, Howard Arthur Turner, as I lost contact with my mother and her side of the family when I was very young. One day I discovered his obituary on GenealogyBank.com and became intrigued with knowing more about him.

From his obituary I learned he died on June 26, 1992 and that he was survived by his wife Carol; son Tom Turner; daughter, Mrs. Kathy Currier; brothers, James Turner Jr., Michael Turner; two stepdaughters; two grandchildren; nephews and nieces. 1

That would be the first piece of information that is wrong. He was survived by at least 4 grandchildren. My sister and I are the daughters of Kathy Currier by a previous marriage.

When reading obituaries, family histories, newspapers, wills and other documents we use to understand genealogy it is important to remember details are often presented to fit current realities. Given that my sister and I had not had contact with the man since we were very young and that we haven’t had any contact with the family for well over 30 years, it is understandable. And a different story for a different day.

The paragraphs that I find the most intriguing from the obituary are:

A radio newscaster at WBT (1110 AM) in the early 1940s, Mr. Turner also taught David Brinkley, now host of the Sunday news Program “This Week With David Brinkley,” who was a UPI news reporter at the Charlotte Station, how to announce on the radio – or so the story goes, says Mr. Turner’s son, Tom.

“My dad would like to tell us about how he taught David Brinkley how to announce on the radio. I don’t know if it’s absolutely true, but he sure liked to tell the story,” said Tom Turner, now president of his father’s supply company. From 1941 to 1946, Mr. Turner paired with Grady Cole, for whom the Grady Cole Center on Kings Drive is named, to produce morning news reports on WBT.”2

There is a story there. How much of it is true? I know there are already missing pieces in this brief summary of his life. One thing I do know, the story is probably interesting. Tomorrow I’ll start trying to unravel it.